ST. LOUIS – Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders are hitting roads and highways across the nation's heartland, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some areas and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.

Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was falling in Colorado and western Kansas.

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Jayson Gosselin of the National Weather Service says parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10 to 12 inches of snow. Further south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.

The winter storm could be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard that started Feb. 1, 2011, forced the closure of Interstate 70 across Missouri due to white-out conditions.